World's Largest Pistachio Alamogordo NM

Steve and I were so grateful to have a delightful drive to El Paso TX, after our harrowing experience driving from Abilene to Roswell. No wind this time!!! As Steve was driving along, I just happened to look on Google to see the attractions in the area. Oh what fun. I found that were going right by the World’s Largest Pistachio Alamogordo NM.

For some odd reason this post never published on March 31, as it was supposed to. I apologize for it being out of order. But this fabulous giant pistachio is just too cool for you to miss!!!

A highway through mountains and lots of deep blue sky en route to World's Largest Pistachio Alamogordo NM

A gorgeous and uneventful drive from Roswell NM to El Paso TX with a brief stop to see the World’s Largest Pistachio.

World’s Largest Pistachio Alamogordo NM

Hershi and I say Hi from PistachioLand!

We didn’t even need to detour from our planned route. And as we approached this giant pistachio there was no mistaking that we had arrived. We pulled off the road and parked so that we could have a closer look.

A yellow sign over the porch of a country store with blue doors at the World's Largest Pistachio Alamogordo NM

Welcome to McGinn’s Country Store where you can find a myriad of flavored pistachios.

One could easily spend hours there. They offer tours of farm, wine tastings, ice cream and pistachios that you can taste in every flavor imaginable. If we had more storage I would have bought every, single, flavor, There wasn’t even one that wasn’t delicious! We ended up buying large bags of the salted and the garlic pistachios. Best pistachios ever!

History

Fun items for sale in a country store at the World's Largest Pistachio Alamogordo NM

All sorts of goodies are available for purchase at McGinn’s Country Store

It took nut salesman Tom McGinn a lifetime to build his Alamogordo NM nut farm that he named PistachioLand. He was rewarded by being memorialized with a roadside advertisement that now draws tourists from all over the country.

A rack display of bags of flavored pistachios at the World's Largest Pistachio Alamogordo NM

Who knew there were so many delicious flavors of pistachios?

It began as a humble tribute from a son to his father. From there, it developed a measure of celebrity and in some ports of call, evolved into a “destination” in it’s own right.

I know there are quite a few mammoth man-made oddities across North America and the rest of the world. I hope we get to visit the world’s largest potato in Blackfoot, Idaho, the world’s biggest buffalo in Jamestown, North Dakota, a larger than life hockey stick and puck in Duncan, British Columbia and an enormous lobster in Shediac, New Brunswick. But we were excited to cross the Worlds’s Largest Pistachio Alamogordo NM off our list!

Construction details

The World’s Largest Pistachio stands 30-feet tall and was constructed in 2008, using over five yards of concrete and 35 gallons of paint to give the enormous green cashew a strangely real look. Like many over-sized items littering the world’s highways, the pistachio is there mainly to lure motorists into the McGinn’s Pistachio Tree Ranch and Winery Gift Shop.

Tim McGinn wanted to memorialize his father Tom with a monument or a statue. Then he remembered the road trips that his dad would take with the family. “We would stop at oddities and World’s Largest things,” Tim said. “And then I realized: he would think it was a hoot if I put up a giant pistachio.”

Inscription

A field with a yellow sign and a huge white and green pistachio sculpture which is the World's Largest Pistachio Alamogordo NM

We didn’t even need to detour to find Pistachioland. We just pulled onto the shoulder and parked to visit the World’s Largest Pistachio Alamogordo NM

At the base of this enormous pistachio sculpture is an inscribed plaque that reads:

“This monument is dedicated to the lasting memory of Thomas Michael McGinn (1929-2007), the founder of Pistachio Tree Ranch. This little slice of New Mexico desert was Ton’s canvas to create this legacy. His tireless dedication to his dream made his farm the success it is today. Tom dreamed big, expected big and accomplished big things. He would have said this monument is not big enough! His legacy lives on.”

A paddle cactus with reddish purple fruit. An RV in the background at the World's Largest Pistachio Alamogordo NM

Found this fabulous Prickly Pear Cactus as we went back to Ladybug with our pistachio haul.

I’m sure that Tom McGinn would have enjoyed his son’s tribute. I know that we sure did. It was definitely a hoot taking photos of, and with, the giant pistachio at PistachioLand!!!